Sarasota Applebees Smokin’ With New Offerings

Applebee’s recently announced its new American-made, wood-fired grills as the centerpiece of nearly 2,000 U.S. stores. Including Sarasota Fruitville and Clark locations, follow your nose as the enticing aroma of American Oak smoke wafts from your neighborhood Applebees.

The new Applebee’s menu includes: 8 oz. and 6 oz. Hand-cut USDA Choice Top Sirloin Steaks . Hand-cut Bone-in Pork Chops with Honey Apple Chutney, Cedar-grilled Salmon with Maple Mustard Glaze and Grilled chicken breast.

The new certified USDA Choice Hand-Cut Wood Fired Steaks and Bone-In Pork Chops are hand-cut by trained meat cutters through a comprehensive process to ensure the highest quality, freshness and optimal thickness. The restaurants have renovated kitchens, revamped menus and selected these trained chefs to be the official in-house meat cutters where they start with a whole sirloin or bone-in pork rack, evaluate and then cut each perfect steak or chop with their American-made knife exclusively designed for Applebee’s meat cutters.

Additionally, meats and vegetables prepared on the new Wood Fired Grills will be featured in many other guest favorites – from salads to appetizers – adding the right amount of mild smokiness to each bite.

 “Our new wood-fired grill is the cornerstone of our elevated dining experience and we’re excited for our guests to come in and try our delicious new wood-fired steak options,” said Marc Prince, director of operations, Applebee’s in Florida and Georgia. “Our chefs are newly trained to ensure the optimal cut and preparation of each and every one of our Hand-Cut Wood Fired Steak dinners.”

 “We’re in the midst of a business transformation at Applebee’s, and we are recommitting ourselves to every aspect of the guest experience – food is, of course, central to that,” said Julia Stewart, chairman and CEO of Applebee’s franchisor DineEquity, Inc. [NYSE: DIN] and president of Applebee’s. “We’re excited to be working with our local restaurants across the country to be part of the biggest culinary investment in our company’s history. We’re not only transforming the menu, but we’re instilling pride in our employees, delighting current guests and giving others a reason to come back.”

The Sarasota Fruitville location

We selected the Pub Pretzel with Beer Cheese Dip as the appetizer which was an excellent taste-bud tantalizer for the salads and wood-fired steaks to come. The sirloins were cooked to perfection and Garlic green beans and garlic mashed potatoes were our favorite sides to complete this new wood-smokey experience.
The Fruitville Road Applebees has just added a new outdoor patio that’s smoking friendly with big screens to watch your favorite games. Live music on Wednesday nights and Trivia on Saturday nights give folks even more reason to check out these new offerings.

Last but not least, they’re brought back 2-for-1 drinks all day every day. And we were also impressed with TED (Tableside Electronic Display), that allows customers to order more apps, drinks and desserts from the table. While our waiter Joshua Simpson was excellent, and he assured us he ‘could make anything happen,’ Joshua estimated an easy two minutes of time savings with each order using TED, who won’t replace a real human, only enhance the servers’ expedient service.

Visit the Sarasota Fruitville Applebees at 5550 Fruitville Road or call 941-379-2260 for more information.

Photos by Patti Pearson